Jared Waerea-Hargreaves fell just short of reaching the NRL grand final – now he hopes suspension does not cruel the premiership dream of his front-row nemesis Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
There were lovely scenes late on Friday when Super League-bound Waerea-Hargreaves was given a guard of honour by the Sydney Roosters and Storm players as he walked off the field for the last time.
The 35-year-old who played 316 NRL games and won three premierships even found the time to share a lengthy embrace with Asofa-Solomona, the two-metre Storm prop whom he locked horns with on several occasions in some of the game’s best individual battles.
But Asofa-Solomona risks becoming the fifth NRL player in the last 20 years to miss next Sunday’s decider because of suspension.
He was placed on report and sin-binned in the opening 13 seconds when he flattened Roosters prop Lindsay Collins with his right shoulder.
Collins played the ball facing the wrong way and failed a concussion test, which will reignite the debate about whether the kick-off has become too dangerous and too much of a danger for concussion.
The immediate concern for Asofa-Solomona is the match review committee, who on Saturday are likely to charge him with a grade-one careless high tackle offence, which carries a $3000 fine, or a grade-two careless high tackle, which is a three-match ban.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona flattens Lindsay Collins.Credit: NRL Photos
Should Asofa-Solomona be charged with the latter, the Storm are expected to seek a downgrade at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night in the hope of having the charge reduced to a fine.
The Storm rolled the dice at the judiciary with Billy Slater before the 2018 decider and succeeded.
Asofa-Solomona has been charged twice for high tackles in the past six weeks. Sydney Roosters forward Luke Ricketson missed the 2004 decider because of suspension, Carl Webb did the following year for North Queensland, as did Cameron Smith (2008) and South Sydney’s Issac Luke in 2014.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said of the Asofa-Solomona incident after the 48-18 preliminary-final victory: “You’d hate to see him miss a big game. I didn’t think it was a sin-bin … I didn’t think there was a whole heap in it.”
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is given a guard of honour for his last game on Friday.Credit: NRL Photos
Waerea-Hargreaves was suspended plenty of times himself, including twice in the back half of this season, but said he would be shattered for his “Kiwi brother” – and one of the few remaining genuine heavyweight intimidators – if he missed the most important game on the calendar.
“I really hope it doesn’t cost Nelson a grand final, I hope not, I truly do,” Waerea-Hargreaves said.
“It’s why we play. It’s such a physical game. They are small margins we talk about.
“There was a lot of talk and speculation on both us guys, and who was going to dominate the middle [on Friday].
Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s tackle on Lindsay Collins.Credit: Nine
“I thought he played really well. I could feel him going after the game. I really hope he gets to go out there next week and do the same thing.”
Another departing Rooster, Luke Keary, said the players had discussed the tackle in the sheds after the game and how it would be unfair on Asofa-Solomona.
Asofa-Solomona returned from the bin and was the most damaging forward on the field. The Storm have back-up options, including Joe Chan, who is more of a backrower, and is listed to play for North Sydney in the NSW Cup final on Sunday.
Storm teammate Jahrome Hughes said of his two-metre front-rower: “Nelson has been really good for us. Even these last couple of months, he’s been all time, he’s really locked in; hopefully he’s out there because he’s such a big part of our team.”
